Facts on... Simon and Garfunkel

Simon and Garfunkel

Folk rock duo

Simon and Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel (Artie), who contributed to the countercultural movement of the late 1960s.

Paul and Artie met in 1953, when they were just 11 years old, in elementary school in Queens. Their first song was “Hey, Schoolgirl,”, which they recorded at age 16, in a Manhattan studio. This caught the attention of Sid Prosen, who ran a small record label called Big Records. Prosen renamed the pair Tom & Jerry and released “Hey, Schoolgirl” as a single.

1st break up

Simon and Garfunkel were both great singers and friends. However, when Simon started recording some solo songs without informing his partner, Garfunkel felt betrayed by his friend and not valued as much as him. This led to the group's original split. “He made a record without telling me,” Garfunkel said in an interview. “He was my best friend and I thought friendship involves candor and telling a friend what’s up, so the fact that he had a hidden surprise shocked and hurt me.”

2nd break up

Some years later, they met at an event. They reconnected and released some of their most memorable songs, only to break up again. They signed at Columbia Records and were renamed Simon & Garfunkel. The duo went platinum, and released four more studio albums.

Even as they headed for the top, they both envied the other’s place in the team. Paul often thought the audience saw Artie as the star because he was the featured singer, and some people probably thought Artie even wrote the songs himself. Meanwhile, Artie knew Paul was the one who wrote the songs and thus controlled the future of the pair. 

3rd (and last) break up

They met again in 1972 while performing in support of Democrat George McGovern’s presidential bid. Both believed the intervening years had allowed them enough space to grow as artists, and people. Paul said, ‘Let’s sing’ and Garfunkel: ‘It’s a deal.'”

Garfunkel described their relationship as “like a marriage” in 2017. “You know how these things work. It waxes and wanes … and every spring is followed by summer, which is followed by cooler weather,” but added he and Simon were currently in “one of the coolest — no, I would say coldest — periods in this long friendship. There’s a real sense of, I may not hear from him again. And I don’t know if I care.”

Both Paul and Artie have confirmed in several interviews there is no way they would ever go back together.